Life and Death and Love and Birth
by TheEnderDraco
Summary: (Older!Steven x Limb Enhancers Peridot Gemlings AU) Steven finds Peridot out in the rain one night, but she has something she needs to tell him. Something that'll change both of their lives.
1. Prologue

"Come on, St-*hic*-Steven... it'll be-*hic*-fun..."

Steven had been at this party for hours. He had brought his girlfriend Peridot along with him, and was beginning to regret it. Steven didn't know there would be drinks here, and Peridot had had one too many of them.

"Peridot, no! Not here..."

"Awwh, you *hic* suuuuure..? _Pleeeassseee_...?"

Peridot had pinned him to the wall, her robotic arms trapping him in front of her. She fumbled with the zipper of his jeans and gave him a drunken grin. Steven blushed and looked away.

"A-all right... just this once..."

* * *

"No, no no no! This can't be..."

Peridot locked herself in the bathroom, staring in disbelief at her scanner. Her routine self-examination scan had escalated to a shocking discovery: she was pregnant. Peridot, a full-blooded, Kindergarten-made, Homeworld Gem, was pregnant with the offspring of whom she presumed to be her boyfriend Steven and herself. As far as she knew, Gem reproduction was only possible through Kindergartens and gemetic editing. There was no way- she had to make sure.

Peridot immediately went straight to her enhancers' Homeworld database, searching for any reports on "organic" Gem reproduction. There! Gemlings and Geodes: Gemkind's Original Kindergartens. She clicked it the minute she read the title. All right, blah blah blah, Kindergartens, organic reproduction, blah blah, there! Conception.

 _Two Gems in a romantic relationship can create Geodes by touching gemstones during an intimate moment between the two._ Peridot blushed. Intimate huh? She shook away the memory and continued. _These Geodes, or Gem eggs, contain the offspring of the two parent Gems: a Gemling. One parent carries the Geode, or Geodes in some cases, until they are ready to be laid. After being laid by the carrier, the Geode or Geodes will hatch after a while._

 _I must be a carrier then_ , Peridot thought. _What am I going to tell Steven?!_ She shook her head. _I won't tell him. I'll just leave him._ _They_ _won't miss me..._

"What do you mean, you have to go? Go where?"

Peridot couldn't just leave her lover without telling him she was leaving. Unfortunately for her, it just complicated her escape. Leave it to Steven to worry about her.

"Sorry, Steven, but I have to go back to Homeworld. They need me there."

"Don't go, please!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to. I'll miss you, Steven..."

Tears welled up in the hybrid's eyes as he realized she probably won't be coming back.

"Are we- are we breaking up?"

Peridot's shoulders sagged.

"Yes, I guess we are."

At that, Peridot ran out the door, leaving her heartbroken lover behind.


	2. Chapter 1 - Reunion

It was two months later when Peridot decided to return. On a rainy day in September, Steven was playing video games in the Temple when a flash of lightning lit up the beach. After the accompanying thunder had died down, he heard someone frantically banging on the front door. Wondering what crazy person would go knocking at their door in this weather, Steven went to investigate. He opened the door to find the last person-or in this case, Gem-he expected to ever see again.

"Peridot?!"

The poor gem was absolutely soaked with rain, shivering and desperately hugging herself in an almost protective way. Her hair covered most of her face, but her characteristic scowl was clearly visible. Steven stepped aside to let her in, but he was shocked. What was she doing here? He thought she had left him all those months ago. However, something seemed different about her now. He pushed the observation aside and went to grab her a towel and a blanket.

Peridot was sitting hunched over on the couch when Steven returned. He wrapped her in the blanket and handed her the towel, which she took silently. She wouldn't look him in the eye. After a few moments, Steven opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him.

"You're probably wondering why I'm back here." Steven nodded. She continued, "Well, let's just say it's because of you."

"Me? What did I do?" Steven asked, confused. Peridot glared at him. He shut up immediately.

"A-hem. Anyways, it's because of you. How, you ask? Well, before we... broke up, I was performing my routine self-examination scan when I discovered something shocking. To me, of course, though I doubt you won't be surprised. I discovered I was carrying, or what you humans call pregnant." Steven was taken aback. Pregnant? That's why she left? More importantly, it was HIS child? _How was this possible?!_ A memory from a few months ago came back to him: they were at a party, Peridot was drunk, and they had... oh dear. That's how it happened, wasn't it? Steven was suddenly snapped back to reality by a loud sniffle from Peridot. He looked over to see tears dripping down the Gem's face.

"Peridot? Are you all right..?" He asked, scooting closer to her. Peridot turned away from him, but was stopped by his arms wrapping around her shoulders. She let out a sob and buried her face in the blanket. "Hey, shh, it's alright..." Steven soothed, nuzzling her hair. Peridot looked up at the hybrid, green-faced and teary-eyed. "I'm here for you..." He pulled her closer and kissed her gemstone. "You'll be okay..."


	3. Chapter 2

At around ten o'clock, the Warp Pad in the Temple activated, waking Steven and Peridot up with a start. The two had fallen asleep on the couch as Steven was trying to comfort Peridot. Steven jumped up quickly to greet the Gems.

"So how'd it go?" He asked, running up to the trio.

"Average," Amethyst shrugged.

"I think it went well, Amethyst. Just because I told you not to shapeshift doesn't make it any worse," Pearl interjected.

"I didn't say it went bad!"

"Well your tone made it sound like you did!"

"That's just how I _talk, P-Brain_!"

As the two argued, Garnet stepped off the Warp.

"Hello Steven. Sorry about them, they've been through quite a bit today," the tall Gem said, ruffling Steven's hair. He smiled and was about to ask what happened when she stopped him. "I'll tell you how it went after you tell them about her." Garnet looked over the half-Gem's head at Peridot. The other Gem noticed and covered her face with the blanket.

"Hey, guys! I, ah, I have something to tell you!" Steven yelled over to Pearl and Amethyst, who were still bickering. They turned to face him, Pearl apologising and glaring at Amethyst. The Gems followed him over to the couch where Peridot was sitting. After their (well, Amethyst and Pearl's) shock at Peridot's return died down, Steven explained everything, from when Peridot got drunk at one of Lars's parties to her coming back and telling him she was pregnant. The Gems listened to every word, and even before he finished, Pearl had already fainted.

"Woah man, that's... woah," Amethyst looked away for a minute, then grabbed her "brother" in a bear hug. "That's awesome! We're gonna have a little you again!" Steven laughed and blushed.

"It's Peridot's baby too, you know..." The young Gem then remembered they weren't alone on the couch. A blanket-wrapped figure still sat next to him, blonde hair peeking out from an opening in the front.

"Oh, duh, sorry..." She let go of Steven and scooted next to Peridot. Amethyst tugged the blanket down so she could see her face. Peridot blushed and looked away, but she didn't resist when Amethyst hugged her. "Good luck with this one," Amethyst whispered to her, making her grin.

Meanwhile, Pearl had woken up and was being helped up by Garnet. She had a lot of questions for the two of them...


	4. Chapter 3 - Back Together

"I still don't understand HOW ON EARTH YOU TWO DID THIS!"

Steven rolled his eyes. It had been roughly an hour since Pearl started interrogating him and Peridot. He'd explained it to her twenty times and she still was in disbelief. I guess she can't believe her little boy is all grown, he thought, blocking out the pale Gem's rant. I can barely believe it myself...

Pearl was suddenly interrupted by a loud snore from Peridot. Unnoticed by everyone else, the green Gem had dozed off on Steven's shoulder. Amethyst snickered, and Garnet smiled.

"I think that's enough talking for today," he concluded, standing up. He jostled Peridot in the process, however, and she mumbled something in her sleep. Steven smiled and carefully picked her up. He brought her into the Rose Room of the Temple, where he now slept. "Room, we need a bed," he announced, waiting a moment. At his command, a bed materialised in front of them. Steven gently placed Peridot down on the bed and sat down next to her. He thought for a moment, then leaned closer to her.

"Psst, Peri, wake up for a sec..." He tapped her cheek gently. After a moment, she groaned and opened her eyes.

"Wuh... what is it..." Peridot grumbled, rubbing her eyes. She pulled herself up and turned towards Steven.

"Oh, um, I was just thinking... since you kinda have to stay here, maybe you could- maybe we could, y'know, get back together? Be boyfriend and girlfriend again?" Steven rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, but then relaxed.

"I suppose we could." Steven whipped his head around when she said this, and grinned. "But only if you let me sleep now." He blushed and nodded.

"Of course, yeah. I'm pretty tired too..." Peridot flopped back down on the bed. "'Night, Per," Steven said quietly, laying down beside her. She was asleep before she could reply.

* * *

In the dim light of the room, Steven could see his girlfriend sleeping peacefully. He, in the other hand, couldn't fall asleep. He began to regret that coffee-drinking contest he had had with Amethyst that morning. He sat up and checked his phone, careful not to make it too bright. 1:06. Steven groaned inwardly and laid back down.

"Nnh, stop moving so much..." He froze. He must have woken up Peridot!

"Oh, sorry Peri, I was just-"

"Never mind what you were doing, just go back to sleep!" Peridot snapped. She was quiet for a moment, then added, "Is something wrong?"

"What? No, of course not! I'm fine, I just had way too much coffee this morning..." Steven reassured her.

"Coffee, hmm? Alright... Just making sure. Now please try and fall asleep," she replied, tugging on his arm. He flopped back down. Peridot turned to face him and wrapped her arms around him. "Good night, Steven."

"Good night, Peridot." Steven replied, closing his eyes.


	5. Chapter 4 - September

**Warning: this chapter gets a little gross at the beginning, but it's not too bad, don't worry.**

The next morning, Peridot woke up feeling rather nauseous. Her stomach groaned, and she forced herself to get out of the bed. A sudden rush of severe nausea hit her and she rushed out of the room, barely making it to the bathroom before she threw up. The poor Gem had nothing in her stomach, yet she still coughed up bile, the awful taste stinging her throat. Peridot curled up around the toilet, clutching her midsection. It took her a minute to get up and wipe her mouth. She stumbled out of the bathroom, disgusted by what she had just done, and collapsed on the couch. She passed out on the spot.

"Peri? Peri wake up!" Someone shook Peridot's shoulder, and she opened her eyes. She found herself staring into Steven's concerned eyes. She jumped back, banging her head on a shelf above her.

"Ow!" She rubbed her head and glared at him. "What now?"

"Oh, uh, I woke up and you weren't there, so I got up to see where you were. You alright?" Steven asked.

"Do I look it?" She retorted. Steven shrank back, and her tone softened. "I mean, it's been a rough morning. Is it normal to do... is it normal for the contents of your stomach to just come back up like that?"

"You threw up? Why didn't you say anything?" Steven interjected. "Oh no, that must have been awful! I'm sorry Per, if I had known-"

"It's all right now, but you didn't answer my question!" She cut him off, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, right. I think it's normal, with you being pregnant and all, but it didn't hurt, right?" Peridot cringed at the recent memory.

"It did, actually..." She mumbled. Seeing the concern on her boyfriend's face, she came up with a conclusion: "But it must have been because I haven't eaten anything but rocks and dirt in a month!" Steven was taken aback.

"You ate ROCKS? No wonder it hurt!" She rolled her eyes, thinking: I just told you that. "Well you need some real food!

"That would be nice," Peridot looked up at him. Steven smiled and nuzzled her nose, then stood.

"Come on, to the kitchen!" She stood as well and followed him.

Steven took some jars and boxes from the cabinets, laying them out in front of him as Peridot watched from behind him. She leaned against him, surveying the selection of snacks before them. She reached out to grab a jar of peanut butter, and much to Steven's surprise she stuck a finger in and started eating it. After a minute he shrugged and started putting the contents of the cabinets back.

"Wait," she said through a mouthful of peanut butter, reaching out to grab a box of popcorn kernels. Peridot went back to the couch, snacks in hand. She plopped down onto the pillows and began munching on the popcorn, mixing it with the peanut butter. Steven was mildly disgusted, but sat down next to her anyways.

"You wan' thum?" She asked with her mouth full, holding out a scoop of popcorn kernels mixed into peanut butter. He politely declined, and she shrugged and shoved in her mouth. "I forgot humam food waf thif good!"

"Sweetie, do you mind not talking with food in your mouth? It's gross..." Steven offered. Her eyes narrowed at the cheesy nickname, but she nodded.

"Fine." Peridot let out a small burp and patted her stomach. "I think that's all for now, wouldn't you agree?" She said to apparently no one in particular.

"Um, who are you talking to?" Steven asked, puzzled.

"Hm?" She looked over at him. "Oh, ah, I was just..." She paused and blushed. "Is it weird that I'm talking to... them?" She pointed to her rounded stomach. Steven grinned.

"Aww, that's adorable! You can't wait to meet them, can you?" He hugged her.

Peridot smiled and hugged back. "I can hardly wait."


End file.
